Wetlands for water and life

Options for peatland-based climate change mitigation presented at UN climate talks

alizia.kamani — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 07:39:00 GMT

Opportunities for climate change mitigation through peatland rehabilitation and lessons learned for future agreements under the UNFCCC were discussed at a side event during the Bonn climate negotiations.

The e-word

alizia.kamani — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:52:00 GMT

At the 4th session of the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction, a green elephant seemed to be standing at the back of the plenary room.

By Vera Coelho

Mangrove coasts: a muddy story (Part 3)

Teresa Zuna — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:21:00 GMT

By Han Winterwerp and Bregje van Wesenbeeck

In my first blog, I introduced the term “ecosystem services”, which has become a popular way to refer to the value of ecosystems. This is an important concept as it provides a counter-argument to the often narrow-minded and short-eyed approach of economics.

Mangrove coasts: a muddy story (Part 2)

Vera.Coelho — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:21:00 GMT

By Han Winterwerp -

In my previous blog, I have tried to explain the importance of mangrove mud coasts. Of course, these coasts are beautiful, exotic environments, with rare species, such as the mud skipper and numerous crabs, as well as rare birds.

Mangrove coasts: a muddy story (Part 1)

Vera.Coelho — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:01:00 GMT

By Han Winterwerp -

I am an engineer. I am a civil engineer and I work with “cohesive sediment”, which is a fancy term for mud. Mud is all over the place, in lakes and rivers, in river mouths (estuaries) and inlets, along the coast and in the deep ocean.

Trust and Hospitality in the Chicorral Community, Ixtahuacán, Sololá, Guatemala

pbrotherton — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 08:06:00 GMT

By Azucena Luna Ordóñez

For those who have all the basic services, it may be hard to conceive of the extreme poverty faced by the indigenous K'iche communities. My first experience in the Bio-rights initiative was to visit Chicorral, the most remote and difficult to access community, and smallest with only 20 families.

Mangroves reduce coastal damage from tropical storms

Sander — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 07:46:00 GMT

Ede, the Netherlands - Mangroves can help protect coastal communities by reducing the height and power of waves generated by storms, and by reducing coastal flooding during tropical cyclones, a new report by The Nature Conservancy and Wetlands International reveals. Added to other roles in erosion protection and diminishing the power of waves, mangroves can therefore play an important role in coastal defence and disaster risk reduction.

Blog: Bringing Ecosystems into Disaster Risk Reduction at the Asian Ministerial Conference

pbrotherton — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 12:01:00 GMT

By Marie-Jose Vervest

Along with Yus Rusila Noor of our Indonesia office, I recently participated in the 5th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from 22 – 25 October 2012 as part of the Partners for Resilience consortium. Our participation was a unique opportunity to highlight the importance of healthy ecosystems for resilient livelihoods and the use of ‘natural infrastructure’ as a buffer against extreme events.

Report: Mangroves protect our coasts against wind and swell waves

kempkes — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:26:00 GMT

Ede, the Netherlands - A new report by The Nature Conservancy and Wetlands International proves that mangrove forests protect coastal populations and infrastructure against wind and swell waves. Preventing damage to coastal infrastructure and flooding, mangroves reduce wave height by as much as 66% over 100 metres of forest. With coastal populations vulnerable to the impacts of extreme events such as storms and hurricanes, these organisations say mangrove management needs to be included in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction efforts in coastal areas worldwide.

Blog: Feeling exposed? Plant a tree!

Vera.Coelho — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:12:00 GMT

By Vera Coelho

What would you do if your community was hit by a tsunami? When confronted with disaster, human responses vary: despair, anger, disbelief, sorrow. Planting trees might not be the first thing that comes to mind.

Dams and climate change threaten the Niger River wetlands

Sander — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:45:00 GMT

Marseille - The combined impacts of new infrastructure schemes and a warmer climate will cause extremely low water levels in the West Sahelian Niger River, impacting the millions downstream and the wider economy. Extremely low water levels in the Niger River are expected to become a regular phenomenon. Wetlands International will present the latest figures based on research with partners. The organisation calls for a moratorium both on new infrastructure schemes and on the extension of existing ones in this water-scarce part of Africa.

Philippine floods: also a story of forest and wetland loss

wetlands-admin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:33:00 GMT

22 December 2011. The recent flooding disaster in Mindanao, Philippines is undeniably a result of extreme rainfall brought on shore by the cyclone Washi. But this is not the entire story; the loss of forests, establishment of plantations with exotic tree species, widespread illegal mining operations and degradation of wetlands has decreased water retention and increased flash-floods and mudslides across the country. As a result, heavy rainfall may turn into disastrous flooding within hours.

Wetlands International at Climate summit Durban

waiyin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Durban, South Africa - Wetlands International will be present at the upcoming climate talks in Durban (28 November – 9 December). This global NGO will show the important role that wetlands can play to adapt to climate change, with specific attention for wetlands in the dry and vulnerable parts of Africa. Wetlands International also continues its call for incentives to conserve and restore carbon-rich wetlands peat soils under a new climate treaty.

Ecosystem solutions to cope with Philippine flood disasters

Sander — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:10:00 GMT

By Pieter van Eijk

Enormous logs float by while we navigate the Agusan river on Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines. A silent testimony of decades of ravaging sawmills and chainsaws that denuded most of the archipelago's once virgin hill slopes. The noisy motor of our boat stirs up a deeply brown-coloured mixture of water and sediment. Two decades ago, local fishermen tell me, the water was clear and readily drinkable.

Wetlands International present at UN Climate Talks in Bonn

Sander — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:03:00 GMT

Bonn, Germany - A team of Wetlands International is present at the UN Climate meeting in Bonn (SBSTA), advocating for wetland conservation in the light of climate change. There we participate in two Side Events and bring our points across in the subsequent Adaptation Fund Board meeting as well.

Announcement: Symposium wetlands in a changing climate

wetlands-admin — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:10:00 GMT

Wetlands International in collaboration with the Scottish Government, Scottish Natural Heritage and Scottish Environment Protection Agency is holding an international symposium to discuss the importance of wetlands in a changing climate in Edinburgh on the 24th of February 2011.

UN Climate conference in Cancún – what is at stake for wetlands?

Sander — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:00:00 GMT

The major UN climate conference takes place in Cancún, Mexico, where in the coming two weeks (29 November – 11 December) country delegations will negotiate next steps towards a new climate agreement. This may become an important meeting as countries could agree on reducing emissions from deforestation. One other key element on this agenda is to reduce the annual emissions from drained peatlands, in order to address this so far ignored part of the global greenhouse gas emissions.

Press conferences by Wetlands International at the UN Biological Diversity Conference in Nagoya, Japan

Sander — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 07:00:00 GMT

Nagoya, Japan (CBD) - Wetlands International will hold two press conferences at the conference of the UN Biological Diversity Convention (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan in the morning of Thursday 21st of October, 2010.

World Wetlands Day: recognition for role wetlands in climate change adaptation

Sander — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 09:22:00 GMT

Celebrating World Wetlands Day, today's spotlight is on the importance of wetlands for reducing impacts of climate change. Globally, there is a growing recognition of the key role that the protection and restoration of wetlands like marshes, peatlands, mangroves and coral reefs can play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to its impacts. Now, this recognition has to be turned into action.

Guinea Bissau: mangroves in frontline against climate change

Sander — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:49:00 GMT

Mansoa, Guinea Bissau. Government officials have launched a new mangrove project in Guinea Bissau, which will demonstrate how better management of mangrove forests can help in reducing coastal climate change impacts. The project aims to deliver the knowledge base for the development of national policies in the fight against climate change impacts. NGO Wetlands International, which is leading the project, emphasizes that this project is an example for many coastal areas in Africa and in the rest of the world.

Domestic agendas block Copenhagen deal

wetlands-admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:23:00 GMT

December 19, 2009, 11.00. The COP just agreed on one sentence with a weak text as just an Annex. National short term interests have blocked any step towards solving one of the biggest challenges mankind faces. The momentum is now missing to move towards a low carbon economy and to reduce the loss of carbon rich ecosystems like forests and wetlands.

Ecosystem based adaptation emerges in Copenhagen proposal

wetlands-admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:13:00 GMT

Despite slow developments on decisions for appropriate financing for protecting the most vulnerable countries against the impacts of climate change, some positive news can be reported by the Wetlands International team working on Adaptation in Copenhagen. The value of ecosystems for climate change adaptation is now explicitely recognised in the draft text for a new climate deal.

Wetlands and the Copenhagen climate summit

wetlands-admin — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 19:51:00 GMT

Wetlands International is present at the UN Cilmate Summit in Copenhagen. The outcomes of this summit may have a great impact on the future protection and restoration of wetland areas. We offer you direct updates via our website and via Twitter.

Drought in eastern Africa worsened by wetland loss

wetlands-admin — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:16:00 GMT

Climate change is now named as the cause of the severe drought in eastern Africa. While this may be true, poor wetland management, especially unsustainable use of water resources, is the root cause of the totally drying up of normally wet areas. This situation currently threatens millions of people in the region and has already caused mass starvation of cattle and wildlife.

Increasing conflicts due to poor wetland management

Sander — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:14:00 GMT

All over the world, conflicts between groups of people are arising due to poor planning of wetlands and their water resources. This concludes the global NGO Wetlands International in its report ‘Planting trees to eat fish’ after investigating many wetland sites in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

World Wetlands Day: “Upstream – Downstream”: key issue for climate adaptation

SusannaTol — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:36:00 GMT

2 February, World Wetlands Day. This year’s theme ‘Upstream-Downstream’ highlights how the world’s wetlands are connected to millions of people whose livelihoods, safety and security depend on them for water supply and their capacity to help regulate floods. Climate change will considerably magnify the problems that ongoing degradation of these river basins will bring to nature and people. Increasing the resilience of these wetlands is therefore a fundamental issue that must be part of climate change adaptation strategies.

Ramsar Convention shies away from influencing water, climate and development policies

Sander — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:14:00 GMT

In the speech on behalf of the International Organising Partners of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (COP 10) in Korea, Jane Madgwick, CEO of Wetlands International welcomes the steps to increase the status of Ramsar Sites, especially with regard to Lake Natron in Tanzania, the Tana Delta and Lake Naivasha in Kenya. At the same time, there is disappointment about the little progress in addressing water, climate and development policies with a link to wetlands.

Healthy wetlands: an effective climate change response

SusannaTol — Tue, 20 May 2008 08:01:00 GMT

The conservation and restoration of ecosystems, in particular wetlands, could be one of the most cost-effective strategies to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Wetlands can reduce the negative effects of sea level rise, extreme weather like heavy rainfall, increased temperatures, severe storms and related phenomena such as melting glaciers, prolonged droughts and increased floods. Today Wetlands International will present facts and its views on adaptation at the CBD in Bonn.